Mischeif Managed
by Tink304
Summary: This story is about Jame Potter's past. It includes the making of the Maurader's map. The characters include James, Sirius, Lupin, Peter, Lilly, and Snape.
1. the dream

Okay, during this story Lupin is talking to Harry about himself, Sirius, Peter, James, and Lilly. It takes place at the Order during the school year, when Sirius is dead, and Harry's there. Please pretend it makes sense. It may be kind of hard to follow, due to the fact that most of it is a flashback. So here it goes. Each chapter switches between the past and the present, so don't get confused.

A boy was walking his dog on a leash. It seemed as though they both were miserable, but when the leash broke an amazing thing happened. They both became happy again. The dog and the boy became best friends. The boy looked after the dog, made sure he got enough food, and watched that he didn't get caught by the dog catcher. Then one day the boy was attacked by a snake. The dog immediately came to the boy's rescue. The boy was fine, but ...

Harry Potter awoke with a start. Lately he had been dreaming a lot about Sirius and didn't know why. Then he heard a noise downstairs. It seemed to becoming from the kitchen. The clock next to his bed said two a.m. Ron was still fast asleep. Harry gave a yawn and headed down the stairs.

When he arrived in the kitchen he saw Remus Lupin in front of the fire. His back was to Harry. He had sort of a sad look on his face and was holding the Marauder's map. He sighed and with out turning around said, "Harry, do you know what tomorrow is?"

"Er," Harry glanced at the calendar above the sink. Tomorrow's day was circled, "A full moon?"

Lupin chuckled, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot."

Harry's eyes widened, "How do you forget something like that?"

"It happens, but tomorrow is the anniversary of the day the four of us created this map." He held up the map and said, without reading it, "Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs surveyors of aids to magical mischief-makers are proud to present the Marauder's map." He paused, "Did anyone ever tell you why we made the map Harry?"

"No." Harry was now very interested. He himself had used that map and always wondered how it came about.

Lupin turned to Harry and pulled a chair across from him. "Have a seat." When Harry sat down again Lupin continued. "Well it was your Father's idea. See, anytime we snuck out we always got caught. James's and Sirius never minded the detention, but they were always dragging me in with them."

Okay so the next chapter takes place in the past. Not all of the stories are about the map so if you find this one boring, keep reading.


	2. the making of the map

Sorry this took so long to post. I started working on another story. It's about these twin's. Ones a werewolf and one's a vampire. It involves time travel, and never mind. It's hard to write two things at once. Enjoy.

The four marauders were sitting in the Gyffindor common room around the fire. They had been sneaking around where they shouldn't have been, and unfortunately got caught.

"I can't believe we got another detention." Sirius complained.

"You can't?" Lupin looked up from his book. He was irritated with the amount of detention he had received this week. Remus couldn't even remember what each of them were for anymore. James's and Sirius had dragged him and Peter into so much trouble lately.

James thought the whole thing was really funny. "Hey, I don't mind the detention. I mean sure it's boring, but what's writing a few lines or cleaning a few trophies? We had fun getting the detention right?" Lupin snorted.

"Apparently some of us didn't have as much fun as others," Peter said. James and Sirius glared at him. "Not that I didn't have fun mind you. It was a blast."

"Maybe we could do something to get out of all these detentions. Since Moony doesn't like them," Sirius pondered. Then his eyes got wide. "Maybe we could hypnotize all the proffesors to think that we don't have any detentions, that we were the most well behaved, and top students of our year. Oh and-"

Lupin shook his head, "You can't hypnotize a proffesor."

"And why not?" James asked, "If one of them realized that we were hypnotizing one of the proffesors we could do the same thing to them. Bam, instant O's on all our tests. We could just make up stuff for the essays."

"First of all, it's because your not a good enough wizard. Secondly, there's no such thing as hypnotizing. I'd of thought you've been reading too many of Lilly's muggle books. It's called the Imperius Curse. Lastly, It's illegal, Prongs," Lupin sighed, "If there was only a way we could avoid getting detention in the first place. Hmm, let's think. Oh wait there's an idea. How about not breaking the rules for once."

James and Sirius looked at each other then laughed. "Oh come on, Moony. That's no fun. You got to live a little," Sirius laughed a whole lot harder.

"What we need is something that can help us not get caught. Like an alarm or something," James suggested.

"That would be too noisy. Then we'd be caught for sure. Gosh, do you guys ever think? How thick can you get?" sighed Remus. He was definitely the smart one of the bunch.

"Hey, I find that insulting, Moony," joked Sirius, "What we need is something to show us when profesors are lurking around in the corner. I run into enough profesors in my life thank you very much." They had indeed run into a lot of profesors. Actually the proffesors ran into them.

"I bet they don't like it either," added Peter, "Invisible people running into you. That can't be fun, especially since you can't see it coming."

Suddenly and idea sparked in James's head. "Hey we need something that can show us where teachers are."

Sirius looked up. "I just said that."

"No seriously, Sirius-"

"That got old a long time ago."

"What? Oh the name. Well anyway, something that can show us where teachers are. Like a piece of parchment." The gears were tuning in James's head. "That says things like Dumbledoor around the corner or look out. Wait a minute. Something that can show us all of Hogwarts and when teachers are coming. Like some sort of magical map."

"A map?" Peter asked, "Why would we need a map? We know Hogwarts better than anyone."

Sirius eyes widened, "We need something that can show us where everybody is in the castle. Anyone know where we could buy one of those? Maybe Zonko's"

"Probably not. Couldn't we just make one?"

James laughed, "Don't be stupid, Wormtail. We couldn't make a thing like that."

Lupin was annoyed. How could these people be so stupid. It was like they hadn't read a book in their entire life. "Actually it's not imposable."

Sirius was getting exited now. "Really? How do we do that?"

"Well, first you need a map of Hogwarts."

"Sirius and I can draw one up I suppose," James bragged, "Anyone got any parchment?"

Peter fumbled for something in his bag. "I've got some." He handed it over to James.

Sirius grabbed the parchment from James, and took out a quill. He drew almost all of Hogwarts, but forgot a few secret passage ways. He also completely left out the kitchen.

"It's right behind the portrait of the fruit," James pointed out.

"I know where the kitchen is." Sirius snapped back.

"So," Peter asked, "You said there was a way to show where proffesors are? How do you do that?"

"Well, it's easy," Lupin said, "It would show us where all the people in the castle are. All you need is a wand and the map itself-"

James rolled his eyes, "Well, are you going to tell us or just sit there boasting about it?" Lupin wasn't really bragging. It was just the simple fact that James couldn't handle all eyes on someone else for a change.

"Fine." Lupin just took the map and his wand. He gave the wand a tap, and little labeled dots started to appear all over.

Peter's jaw dropped open. "Wow!"

"Pretty cool. So it shows everybody? No more getting busted by the prefects, or Snivelus." Sirius pointed out

James snorted, "I could've done that."

"I can undo it if you like?" Lupin was rarely a smart ass, but this was one of those few times a sarcastic comment was necessary.

"No!" the rest of them yelled. This was way too neat to be ruined by James's cockiness.

"I like it, but what if we loose it?" Peter lost a lot of things.

Sirius snorted, "Like we'd loose something this special. Well considering it's you Wormtail, I don't want it to fall into the wrong hands." With that Sirius grabbed the map. He wanted to make sure it was safe.

"True," Lupin said, "There is a way we could make the map invisible."

"Then we wouldn't be able to find it. Many a times I've put the invisibility cloak over something small, like a fork for instance. It took me forever to find them both."

Sirius laughed, "Yeah, until I stepped on it. Ouch, that sure hurt. Lupin, is there a way to make just the ink invisible?"

Lupin was getting annoyed. They really needed to do there homework more often. This was one of the easiest spells. Of course he didn't say anything about them being idiots. "Yeah, it's really simple. Hand it over."

"Couldn't they use revealing charms or something?" James pointed out.

Lupin smiled, "Not with this spell."

So they got the map all figured out. They made it so anyone who tries to find out how it works would get insulted. That was James's favorite part. Peter even designed the cover. They all had so much fun coming up with the different ways to insult people. Lupin secretly hoped that a professors wouldn't get a hold of the map. James and Sirius really didn't like the professors.

Peter gasped, "Someone's coming in through the portrait hole."

James tapped the map, "Mischief Managed." Lilly entered the common room. James smiled. "You're out late, Evens."

Lilly noticed all their way too innocent faces, "What have you guys been up too? I heard from Professor Slughorn that you all got another detention."

James rolled his eyes. "Were you at one of his dumb parties again?"

"So what if I was?" She grabbed at something that was behind James's back. "What's this?"

Peter looked nervous, but Sirius said, "Just an ordinary pad of parchment."

Lilly glared at them, "Oh, I'm so sure." 

"See for yourself. Unfold it," James said causually.

Unfortunately she tried a revealing charm. She was not happy with the result, "Well, I never, you guys, Erg!"

Lilly stormed in to the girls dormitory while James and Sirius laughed their guts out. Peter let out the breath he was holding in then followed suite. Lupin's spell worked. He beamed.

I hope you like it so far. I have a lot more story ideas. I'm going to have them meet. And of course I'm going to have try outs in there. I think I may have Lilly try out for seeker too. Oh, in one of the chapters I have Lilly get back at James in the best possible way. It's a surprise though. If you have any requests for stories, tell me. As always, please review. 


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, that last chapter moved very fast, and there was a lot of dialogue. I apologize. It's hard to make up stories for something that really had to happen. Does that make sense? Maybe not. Anyway, here's the story. Just as a reminder it's in the present again. I'll stop reminding after this chapter.

Lupin sighed. He was thinking about all of his friends. They were all lost now, either dead or a traitor. "I can still remember that day. I've only seen Lily that mad once before," he laughed, "Strangely enough, both times had to do with your father."

"Was it really that easy to make the map?" Harry asked.

"Well," Lupin said, "It was pretty easy, just a simple spell. I found it one of the library books. Which one, I can't remember."

Harry was instantly reminded of Hermione. "You know, I've always wondered. What made you come up with the incantations. I mean mischief managed and I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Lupin laughed, "Actually, Harry, I came up with the 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good'. I was actually just joking about how it would fit your father and Sirius. They liked the idea. Peter suggested that the other one be 'no good done'. It sounded stupid so James thought of 'mischief managed'." Harry laughed too. "I can still remember when all of us met perfectly."

"Perfectly?"

"Yes, Harry, perfectly. You'll probably always remember when you, Ron, and Hermione met," Lupin closed is eyes. It was like he was trying to picture that fist ride on the Hogwarts express. "James and Sirius were instantly friends. It was amazing, like they were drawn together. I was trying to help Lilly get on to the platform, and..."

I know that was a short chapter, but the in between chapters are going to be. As always, please review and tell me what you think. Thanks. 


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